The 10 Poorest Cities In New Jersey For 2023


The poorest places in New Jersey are Salem and Atlantic City for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

Like all states, New Jersey has certain places that are going on hard times. These New Jersey places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in New Jersey.

To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 190 cities in New Jersey with more than 5,000 people.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


Here are the ten poorest places in New Jersey for 2023:

  1. Salem
  2. Atlantic City
  3. Camden
  4. Bridgeton
  5. Trenton
  6. Newark
  7. New Brunswick
  8. Pleasantville
  9. Paterson
  10. Passaic

What’s the poorest city in New Jersey? According to the facts, Salem is the poorest place in New Jersey for 2023.

This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

For more New Jersey reading, check out:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Poorest Cities In New Jersey For 2023

1. Salem

Salem, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,237
Rank Last Year:
Median Income: $26,667 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 37.8% (highest)
People In Poverty: 1,978
More on Salem: Data | Crime

Salem, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in New Jersey thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 5,237 people averages the lowest median household income in New Jersey and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

2. Atlantic City

Atlantic City, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 38,481
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $29,773 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 37.0% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 14,242
More on Atlantic City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The second poorest city in New Jersey is Atlantic City.

The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 3rd highest in the Garden State.

3. Camden

Camden, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Yann | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 72,381
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $30,247 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 33.6% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 24,340
More on Camden: Data | Cost Of Living

Placing as the third poorest city, Camden’s median income ranks as the 3rd lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 33.62771352059712% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Garden State.

4. Bridgeton

Bridgeton, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 26,643
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $39,995 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 35.1% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 9,339
More on Bridgeton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Bridgeton ranks as the fourth poorest place in New Jersey.

The town ranks as having the 5th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

5. Trenton

Trenton, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 90,097
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $39,718 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 27.7% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 24,946
More on Trenton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The fifth poorest city in New Jersey is Trenton.

The city ranks as having the 4th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 6th highest in New Jersey.

Still not the best news for Trenton.

6. Newark

Newark, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Jamaalcobbs at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 306,247
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Income: $41,335 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.8% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 78,935
More on Newark: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Newark ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Garden State.

It ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty and the 9th highest unemployment rate.

7. New Brunswick

New Brunswick, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User MJKazin at English Wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 55,671
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 3)
Median Income: $49,338 (12th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 35.3% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 19,638
More on New Brunswick: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

New Brunswick places as the seventh poorest city in New Jersey.

The city of over 55,671 ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

8. Pleasantville

Pleasantville, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 20,505
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $44,008 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 24.5% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 5,014
More on Pleasantville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Pleasantville ranks as the eighth poorest city in New Jersey.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 6th highest in the state.

9. Paterson

Paterson, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User BJT11091 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 157,927
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Income: $48,540 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.1% (9th highest)
People In Poverty: 39,587
More on Paterson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Paterson couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in New Jersey; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 11th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Paterson ranks as having the 9th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in New Jersey.

10. Passaic

Passaic, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 70,308
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 3)
Median Income: $49,436 (13th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.3% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 17,804
More on Passaic: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in New Jersey is Passaic.

The city of 70,308 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Garden State.

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In New Jersey for 2023

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income

After we collected the data for all 190 places with more than 5,000 people in New Jersey, we ranked each place from 1 to 190 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Salem, crowned the “Poorest Place In New Jersey For 2023”.

This report has been updated for 2023, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in New Jersey.

Summary: The Poorest Cities In New Jersey For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in New Jersey, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in New Jersey.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in New Jersey, according to data:

    Richest: Glen Ridge
    2nd Richest: Chatham
    3rd Richest: Little Silver

For more New Jersey reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In New Jersey

Rank City Population Poverty Rate Median Income People In Poverty
1 Salem 5,237 37.8% $26,667 1,978
2 Atlantic City 38,481 37.0% $29,773 14,242
3 Camden 72,381 33.6% $30,247 24,340
4 Bridgeton 26,643 35.1% $39,995 9,339
5 Trenton 90,097 27.7% $39,718 24,946
6 Newark 306,247 25.8% $41,335 78,935
7 New Brunswick 55,671 35.3% $49,338 19,638
8 Pleasantville 20,505 24.5% $44,008 5,014
9 Paterson 157,927 25.1% $48,540 39,587
10 Passaic 70,308 25.3% $49,436 17,804
11 Wildwood 5,113 20.5% $44,476 1,049
12 Perth Amboy 55,046 20.8% $53,750 11,444
13 Union City 67,903 20.0% $53,177 13,564
14 Asbury Park 15,305 20.5% $54,676 3,141
15 Prospect Park 6,301 17.9% $51,618 1,128
16 Lindenwold 21,048 16.5% $48,454 3,472
17 East Orange 68,918 18.0% $54,520 12,409
18 Long Branch 31,734 21.4% $65,369 6,781
19 Phillipsburg 15,146 16.6% $57,292 2,515
20 Fairview 14,918 14.9% $54,904 2,227
21 Freehold 12,485 17.6% $62,942 2,193
22 Elizabeth 135,772 14.7% $54,415 19,973
23 Plainfield 54,183 17.1% $63,750 9,274
24 West New York 52,485 19.9% $65,913 10,463
25 Woodbury 10,067 14.8% $64,271 1,489
26 Millville 27,946 13.2% $62,111 3,679
27 Glassboro 20,284 20.1% $71,608 4,075
28 Harrison 18,824 17.2% $68,494 3,233
29 Guttenberg 11,833 14.8% $65,532 1,748
30 Vineland 61,442 12.6% $60,018 7,770
31 Keansburg 9,781 22.7% $76,101 2,220
32 Garfield 32,481 14.7% $66,296 4,783
33 Pine Hill 10,637 12.9% $63,892 1,373
34 Paulsboro 6,234 9.9% $45,929 617
35 Somers Point 10,470 11.7% $62,844 1,219
36 Gloucester City 11,438 11.2% $59,926 1,282
37 Burlington 9,800 14.6% $73,045 1,430
38 Clementon 5,271 10.1% $57,895 534
39 Dover 18,418 12.4% $69,434 2,274
40 Ventnor City 9,333 11.5% $66,783 1,076
41 Bellmawr 11,631 10.8% $66,667 1,258
42 Hackensack 45,723 12.4% $73,716 5,679
43 Absecon 9,039 10.1% $65,194 908
44 Somerdale 5,476 14.2% $76,817 776
45 Jersey City 287,146 16.1% $81,390 46,355
46 Collingswood 14,087 11.8% $74,327 1,663
47 Lodi 25,983 10.8% $70,821 2,809
48 Bayonne 70,553 11.1% $72,839 7,851
49 North Plainfield 22,635 12.0% $76,355 2,705
50 Palisades Park 20,291 11.9% $76,297 2,416
51 Washington 7,172 9.0% $63,183 645
52 Red Bank 12,825 13.4% $80,781 1,712
53 Dunellen 7,580 14.2% $81,525 1,076
54 Keyport 7,204 9.1% $66,025 652
55 Newton 8,423 9.1% $69,107 765
56 South River 16,087 12.4% $82,031 2,001
57 Hammonton 14,695 10.7% $76,804 1,566
58 Elmwood Park 21,239 9.8% $75,091 2,091
59 Kearny 41,790 10.2% $76,647 4,244
60 Wharton 7,175 14.4% $89,056 1,034
61 Wallington 11,833 9.2% $75,410 1,085
62 Woodland Park 13,265 11.6% $84,729 1,544
63 Stratford 6,967 10.3% $81,310 718
64 Roselle 22,511 8.2% $68,369 1,848
65 Manville 10,861 9.3% $79,766 1,013
66 Carteret 25,077 8.6% $74,583 2,165
67 Bound Brook 11,799 8.0% $69,491 939
68 Englewood 29,129 12.0% $91,164 3,487
69 Ridgefield Park 13,202 10.3% $86,502 1,355
70 Brigantine 7,890 9.2% $81,830 728
71 Barrington 7,031 8.0% $73,380 562
72 Cliffside Park 25,515 10.5% $89,387 2,671
73 Hackett 10,221 8.4% $79,621 863
74 Palmyra 7,429 8.3% $78,736 617
75 Rahway 29,582 8.5% $81,368 2,527
76 Runnemede 8,316 8.2% $80,302 678
77 Highland Park 14,947 8.5% $85,652 1,265
78 Clifton 89,460 8.7% $86,616 7,825
79 Linden 43,387 7.7% $80,200 3,333
80 Eato 13,446 8.2% $83,561 1,108
81 Ocean City 11,211 8.8% $88,414 981
82 Fort Lee 39,701 9.4% $92,456 3,713
83 North Arlington 16,339 10.2% $94,012 1,659
84 Belmar 5,869 8.8% $90,461 516
85 Clayton 8,818 9.2% $96,776 812
86 Boonton 8,770 7.7% $85,948 677
87 Tinton Falls 19,053 9.1% $96,294 1,731
88 Little Ferry 10,973 5.6% $77,368 610
89 Roselle Park 13,973 6.4% $85,427 899
90 Middlesex 14,513 7.7% $90,162 1,123
91 Morristown 20,003 10.7% $112,570 2,143
92 Pompton Lakes 11,113 8.5% $100,906 949
93 East Rutherford 9,918 5.9% $86,592 587
94 South Amboy 9,320 7.0% $93,859 653
95 Haledon 8,936 7.3% $94,146 651
96 Hasbrouck Heights 12,120 8.0% $102,639 975
97 Jamesburg 5,784 6.1% $93,000 349
98 Pitman 8,812 4.3% $84,303 376
99 Sayreville 45,062 5.3% $89,600 2,375
100 Kenilworth 8,377 8.3% $107,316 696
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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